Whenever you holiday in Sabah, the most convenient place to stay in is Kota Kinabalu, Sabah’s capital city. From here, you can travel to any other part of the state whether by road or air (rail travel in Sabah is scarce).

If you choose to stay in Kota Kinabalu, there is no shortage of accommodation types to suit your budget or needs. There are top five-star hotels that pamper you in the lap of luxury and there are affordable backpackers lodges that gives you affordable yet clean accommodations. Since the city itself is not big, you can get to wherever you want just by walking around.

Here are some of the most recommended accommodations:

Five-Star Hotels and Resorts

The undoubted best if you can afford it is the Magellan Sutera Hotel, one of the five star hotels in the award-winning Sutera Harbour Resort and Spa.

Alternatively there is the Pacific Sutera Hotel, also in Sutera Harbour, a mere five-minute walk away from the Magellan.

Sutera Harbour Resort and Spa presents everything you could want in a holiday – superb room service, complete facilities and a wide range of activities to choose from.

Shangri-la Tanjung Aru Resort (STAR) near the airport, at Tanjung Aru beach. Excellent facilities. The STAR hotel is not to be confused with another Shangri-la hotel located in the city (see below).

Hyatt Hotel

Le Meridian Hotel

A little further away from the city center are another 2 fantastic beach hotels well worth the stay. If you want to be away from the hustle bustle of the city, these are excellent choices:

Shangri-la Rasa Ria Resort – full resort facilities available

Nexus Karambunai Resort – contains full resort facilities including a golf course. Friendly whale sharks have been spotted nearby.

Four-star Hotels

Promenade Hotel

Novotel Hotel – one of the hotels in One Borneo Lifestyle Hypermall located just outside the city.

Jesselton Hotel – very convenient location, right on Gaya Street (the main street in the city) where the Sunday Gaya Street Fair takes place.

Shangri-la Hotel – this one is in the city center, not at Tanjung Aru beach.

Three Star Hotels

Tang Dynasty – a unique hotel that is connected to a shopping mall. Makes it convenient to stay and shop.

Beverly Hotel

Palace Hotel – will be upgraded to four-star soon

De Leeton Hotel

Capitol Hotel – among the oldest hotels in Kota Kinabalu. Well established and situated in a very convenient location.

Garden Hotel

Kinabalu Daya Hotel

Winner Hotel

Casuarina Hotel – located near the STAR hotel in Tanjung Aru area.

Two-star and backpackers lodges

Ang’s Hotel

Violet Lodge – the best choice of affordable accommodation and convenient location. Room rates from less than $10 per night only.

Farida’s Bed and Breakfast

Tune Hotel – located in One Borneo Lifestyle Hypermall

Any of these classy hotels can organize your itinerary and activities while on your vacation in Sabah.  But if you prefer to plan your own stay, check out my page on Sabah - Kota Kinabalu Top Day Trips.

For more accommodation options, there is a host of other backpackers accommodations in Kota Kinabalu. You just have to walk around the city to find them.

Service Apartments

Marina Court

Api-api Apartments

Likas Square

Now for food. In Kota Kinabalu, there is no shortage of wonderful restaurants that offer a wide variety of food, both local and foreign. Most restaurants and eateries in Kota Kinabalu provide all sorts of local foods. To cater for the Moslem crowd, all food is served without pork unless specifically stated otherwise. If you see the word ‘Halal’ it means it is kosher for Moslems. ‘Non-Halal’ means it is not permitted for Moslems because it contains pork.

Although most restaurants serve a variety of foods, there are some that only offer one type. These are mostly Moslem or Indian Muslim restaurants. Here are some of them in Kota Kinabalu:

Sri Sempelang

Sri Rahmat

Restoran Salim in Lintas Plaza, Kota Kinabalu

Sate Mesra – in City Mall, a shopping Mall just outside the city center. They serve excellent satay.

If you want to try a variety of Moslem food all in one place, go to Anjung Senja or Jesselton Point. These are areas where food stalls offer mainly Moslem food and other local food.

Kota Kinabalu is famous for its fresh and tasty seafood. They are found mostly in Chinese restaurants. You can also find other types of local food besides seafood at these places. Here are some of the highly-recommended ones:

Ocean Seafood Restaurant

Portview Restaurant in the Waterfront

Garden Seafood Restaurant

Atlantis Restaurant – at Jalan Bundusan, Kota Kinabalu

Besides these, there are many others that provide all sorts of local and foreign cuisine:

Rasa Nyonya Restaurant – highly recommended for its delicious food, both local and Western.

The Hut Restaurant

X.O. Grill

Clarence Place Restaurant (my namesake!) – superb Western food located in Lintas Plaza, Kota Kinabalu.

Grace Point – this place is a unique collection of food stalls offering a variety of food.

Grace Point is unique in that it is built on an infamous site for the Sabahans called the Double Six Memorial. It was at this very site that an airplane carrying the Sabah Cabinet Ministers crashed on its way back to Kota Kinabalu on the 6^th of June 1976. Those who lost their lives included the Chief Minister, Tun Fuad Stephens and many other well-respected ministers. Since then a memorial has been erected in this site that now contains Grace Point. This memorial still stands today.

The food and facilities in Grace Point are excellent because it is run by Sutera Harbour Resort. Very affordable, too; reasonable prices for five-star food and service.

Atmosphere Restaurant – the most special restaurant in Kota Kinabalu. It is located in the cylindrical Bangunan Tun Mustapha (the Sabah Foundation Building) and is a revolving restaurant. It moves slowly in a full circle so that you catch a view of the open sea and certain parts of Kota Kinabalu city as you dine.

For only local dishes, try these restaurants:

Diamond Restaurant – very affordable, yet delicious. Located in Luyang, a suburb part of Kota Kinabalu, not the city center itself.

Emperor’s Delight Restaurant

Singapore Chicken Rice Restaurant - in Api-api service apartments

Malaysia Chicken Rice Restaurant - also in Api-api service apartments

For Indian food, the 2 most recommended are Krishna Curry House in Plaza Millenium or Jothy’s Fish Head Curry Restaurant in Api-api service apartments, Kota Kinabalu.  Apart from these, there is also Devi’s Cafe also located in Api-api service apartments.

Besides these ones, there are plenty of food courts and coffee shops where you can savor local delicacies.

There are also many restaurants serving specialized food from a variety of countries such as Thailand, Japan, Korea, the Philippines, Vietnam, Italy, German and many others.

For Filipino food - go to Tambayan At Kainang Filipino Restaurant

For Japanese food – go to Nishiki, Nagasaki or Wagamama Restaurants

For Italian food – go to Little Italy or Luna Rossa

For Thai food – go to Tam Lap Thai Restaurant

For German food – try Gunther’s Gasthaus Restaurant along Jalan Tuaran, Kota Kinabalu